Echo chambers and conspiracy theories

‘Safety is our ultimate goal’: Steinbach cancels annual Pride event

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

‘Safety is our ultimate goal’: Steinbach cancels annual Pride event

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

Saturday’s annual Pride rally and march in Steinbach was called off after multiple threats prompted concerns about the safety of attendees, an organizer told the Free Press.

Chris Plett, president of Steinbach Pride, declined to disclose the nature of the threats and where they were made, but said they were reported to RCMP when organizers became aware of them Friday.

“One of the (event’s) entertainers contacted us and requested to remove themselves from the program because they heard some credible information about some threats that could be happening at the event,” Plett said. “It wasn’t clear if it was going to be a physical situation or if it was just going to be a disturbance. The unknowns were too great, and safety is our ultimate goal.”

Plett said the threats were reactive to Wednesday’s assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an event at a Utah university.

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Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS FILES
Saturday’s annual Pride rally and march in Steinbach was called off after multiple threats prompted concerns about the safety of attendees.

Bell launches Bell Cyber, building on AI and tech services umbrella

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Bell launches Bell Cyber, building on AI and tech services umbrella

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

TORONTO - Bell Canada is launching Bell Cyber, a new brand under its growing tech services umbrella which will offer AI-powered cybersecurity solutions.

The company made the announcement Tuesday at its inaugural Bell Cybersecurity Summit in Toronto, which heard from Bell Cyber's leadership, government and law enforcement officials, as well as other industry stakeholders.

It said Bell Cyber unifies all of the company's cybersecurity capabilities under a single brand. It also complements Bell's other recent tech announcements, such as the launch of Bell AI Fabric and tech services brand Ateko.

Bell Cyber is the branding successor to Stratejm, a Mississauga, Ont.-based security services provider acquired by Bell in July 2024. The company has specialized in providing end-to-end security solutions with the use of artificial intelligence, including real-time threat detection and response.

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Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

Self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Canada’ freed on bail in Saskatchewan

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Canada’ freed on bail in Saskatchewan

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

SWIFT CURRENT - The self-proclaimed spiritual leader known as the "Queen of Canada” was freed on bail Monday, nearly a week after a police raid on her Saskatchewan compound.

And the compound has been declared off limits.

Romana Didulo, 50, was released on strict conditions, including not visiting the village of Richmound west of Regina.

In Richmound, she and her followers -- known as the "Kingdom of Canada" -- have long clashed with locals to the point the village office closed its doors to the public outside prearranged appointments, citing harassment and intimidation towards staff.

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Romana Didulo, a conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed

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Alberta bans sexual images in school library books under revised order

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

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Alberta bans sexual images in school library books under revised order

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

EDMONTON - The Alberta government made good Monday on its promise to revise its school book ban, stating that from now on written descriptions of sex are OK, but images and illustrations of sex are not.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told reporters that visual depictions had been the government's main concern from the start.

When asked by reporters why the government wasn't concerned with written descriptions of explicit sexual material, he said, “An image can be understood and conveyed at any grade level with any degree of comprehension.

“Whereas, of course, vocabulary and understanding progresses and develops throughout the school year."

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at a press conference in Edmonton on Oct. 31, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Health officials declare ‘Queen of Canada’s’ compound a threat to public safety

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Health officials declare ‘Queen of Canada’s’ compound a threat to public safety

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

RICHMOUND - Provincial officials in Saskatchewan say parts of a former school that was serving as a compound for the self-proclaimed "Queen of Canada" and her followers have been declared unfit for human habitation, and the residents have been ordered out.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says in an email that occupancy of the building in Richmound is prohibited under Section 22 of the Public Health Act, on the basis that the premises is a multi-person residence and is not connected to the municipal sewer system.

The email says an order was issued for anyone who was currently occupying the building to vacate, although it notes the order covers the building only, and not trailers on the site.

Police arrested the group's leader, Romana Didulo, property owner Ricky Manz and 14 others on Wednesday in the village west of Regina, after obtaining a search warrant to enter the site.

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Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

Senior Investigative Officer with Saskatchewan RCMP’s Major Crimes Branch Ashley St. Germaine speaks during a press conference regarding an ongoing investigation in Richmound, Sask., in Regina, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

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Clean air as privilege

Marwa Suraj 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 6, 2025

For elders with dementia, youth with anxiety, or evacuees coping with displacement, smoke is not just a public health irritant. It’s an accelerant for mental health issues.

You can’t put an N95 on your brain. You can’t tell your nervous system to calm down when the air outside looks like dusk at noon.

For older adults, people with asthma, families on fixed incomes, or those living in crowded apartments or trailers, wildfire season in Manitoba is more than just a nuisance. It’s a trigger. Of breathlessness. Of panic. Of helplessness.

And every year, the advice is the same:

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Ryan Reynolds suggests swapping phones with a MAGA supporter, checking out their algorithm

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

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Ryan Reynolds suggests swapping phones with a MAGA supporter, checking out their algorithm

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

TORONTO - Ryan Reynolds says mounting tensions between Canada and the U.S. haven't changed anything for him as a Canuck in Hollywood.

The "Deadpool" star preached unity during an onstage conversation at the Toronto International Film Festival, when chief programming officer Anita Lee asked him what it was like being a Canadian in Los Angeles during this "elbows up" era of increased nationalism.

In a nearly five-minute answer to the question, Reynolds said he's always held Canadian values, including conflict resolution, and he seeks "to learn, rather than win."

Reynolds is at TIFF to promote the new documentary "John Candy: I Like Me," which he produced.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Ryan Reynolds is photographed on the red carpet for the film

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

The attorneys general of California and Delaware on Friday warned OpenAI they have “serious concerns” about the safety of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for children and teens.

The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, sent the letter to the company after a meeting with its legal team earlier this week in Wilmington, Delaware.

California AG Rob Bonta and Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings have spent months reviewing OpenAI's plans to restructure its business, with an eye on “ensuring rigorous and robust oversight of OpenAI’s safety mission.”

But they said they were concerned by “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between" chatbots and their users, including the "heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut. Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.”

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

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Alberta government postpones release of revised school library book ban

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

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Alberta government postpones release of revised school library book ban

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

EDMONTON - The Alberta government has postponed the release of its revised school library book ban to Monday.

The government had promised the new ministerial order for Friday afternoon, with a technical briefing for reporters set earlier in the day.

After the briefing was supposed to start, media were informed by email that it had been rescheduled.

“We are taking the time needed to ensure that the revised ministerial order is clear for all school boards," Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides later said in an email in response to questions about the postponement.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, right, stands with new Minister of Education and Childcare, Demetrios Nicolaides, following a swearing in ceremony in Calgary, Friday, May 16, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

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Report calls on NATO to counter authoritarian manipulation, disinformation

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

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Report calls on NATO to counter authoritarian manipulation, disinformation

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

OTTAWA - A resurgent North Atlantic Treaty Organization should play a leading role in fighting the growing aggression of authoritarian states in the online battlespace, says a new report from civil society groups.

The report, released by the Montreal Institute for Global Security and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Canada, warns that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are working to expand their strategic influence and reshape global norms.

Their shared objectives include undermining U.S. leadership, discrediting western alliances — NATO in particular — and framing the West as hypocritical and neocolonial, the report says.

"Recognizing the scope of the threat is no longer enough," says the report Wired for War: How Authoritarian States are Weaponizing AI Against the West. "The authoritarian playbook is clear, and so too must be the democratic response."

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

November 18, 2025